Viral 'Wicked' Deleted Scene Sparks Backlash—'This Is So Crucial'

A recently released deleted scene from Wicked has sent the internet into a frenzy, many saying it should have remained in the film adaptation.

The film's star-studded cast includes Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda, the Good Witch. Jonathan Bailey also stars as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Munchkin Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Headmistress Madame Morrible, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond and Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard.

Split up into two installments, both films are adapted from the acclaimed Broadway musical Wicked, itself a backstory to the movie The Wizard of Oz that explores the origins and friendship of two iconic witches.

After a deleted scene from the first movie was shared on social media, people have expressed how much they wished the scene was kept, no matter if that resulted in a longer film.

Newsweek emailed director Jon M. Chu for comment on Wednesday.

The scene, titled "Elphaba's Promise," unfolds in a classroom just before Madame Morrible receives her invitation to meet the Wizard. Elphaba is engrossed in her studies, while Glinda struggles with her beginner's wand. In an emotional exchange, Glinda asks Elphaba why Fiyero helped free the lion cub from their classroom days prior.

"I would've helped you, if you needed someone, could've picked me," Glinda said, to which Elphaba responded: "I'm sorry, it was a mistake. I won't leave you behind again."

The scene has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the entertainment account @PopBase, where it has been viewed more than 378,000 times, and by user @glindasupland, where it has 2.2 million views. People have taken to the comments on both posts to share their thoughts.

"This is like so crucial why did they delete???" one person asked.

"NOTHING should've been left out," someone else wrote, while a different X user added: "Omg we were robbed, they should've kept this scene."

"all the deleted scenes are so good!! it could've been a 4 hr movie for all i care," a fourth person commented.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande attend the Los Angeles Premiere of Universal Pictures "Wicked" at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on November 09, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. People have shared their disappointment over a scene being... Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

People have also taken to Reddit to share their thoughts, one person writing: "Uh, I almost hate seeing these deleted scenes because they would've improved the pacing so much. They definitely needed this after 'I'm Not That Girl.'"

"oh come on this is so sweet😭😭 I absolutely love this movie but just realized how much it was missing a scene like this!!!!" another person posted.

"UGH i wish they would've kept this. Particularly for Ariana! I feel like Glinda's such a whimsical and comedic character that we never got to see the TRUE polish of Ariana's acting skills with a more calm, more emotionally deep scene!" a third person commented.

During an interview with Bustle, director Jon M. Chu explained why he chose to remove the scene. He said it was cut to preserve an element of surprise in the storyline.

"The issue for us was that when Elphaba makes a promise to Glinda, it takes away the drama of waiting for the promise to actually happen," he revealed. "When you get to the train scene, if she already made that promise, Elphaba is a person of her word, so she's going to invite her. Without that, I think you don't quite know [her intentions]."

Chu was also concerned about the film's runtime, which is two and a half hours long.

"We've been in the movie a while now, let's get to the Emerald City," he said.

"We had to always think about the trajectory of the movie itself. The movie was long. It still is long, and I tried to do my due diligence of getting it as thin as we could but knowing we needed those pieces."

On December 9, Wicked gathered four Golden Globe nominations, with nods in the Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture, and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement categories.

There are suggestions that Grande and Erivo could be in the running for Oscar nods come January when the nominations are announced.